Yang Xiao Long, the Dragonborn chapter 4.
Wow it's been so long since I updated this one, guess it's because I said I'll update this fic when ever I have the chance. AND PLEASE NO MORE QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW THE CHARACTERS WILL BE IN THE STORY….just let me write how I want to without being questioned of my choices. (for those who don't know what im on about look at the reviews)
Enjoy and Review.
A Journey Begins with a dull blade.
To say Yang rested well would be an overstatement, for during the night the terrors of yesterday plagued her dreams. The blonde warrior tossed and turned hoping to shake the nightmares away. It wasn't until in the wee hours of the morning when the horrid visions faded into nothing. The rooster crowed a few hours later, the sunlight sifting through the windows as Ralof and his family began their day of work. Getting up with a groan Yang stretched as series of cracks and clicks sounded from her back. The usually boisterous blonde slugged her way over to the table where Ralof was eating some left over stew. Plopping down next to him Yang cut a bread roll in half then cut her self a slab of cheese and began eating. The bread was a little dry but she was too tired to care.
"Didn't sleep well either huh?" Ralof spoke as he grabbed another spoonful of stew and put it in his mouth. Yang just grunted with a nod of her head as she continued to eat. "Don't worry you'll get used to them."
Silence descended between the two, the only sounds that could be heard were the farm animals, the chirping of birds and the munching of eating mouths.
"Oh I forgot to mention that I asked Gerdur to purchase some iron armour for you seeing how you saved my life yesterday. And I'm sure Lucan Valerius, the owner of Riverwood Trader, will exchange a two handed sword for your war hammer." Ralof smiled. A few minutes went by and Yang had finished her breakfast, as soon as she got up from her seat the door opened. Gerdur walked in with a bundle covered in linen wraps under her arms, closing the door behind her the woman looked at Yang and smiled.
"Good morning Yang, I trust that you slept well."
"More or less, kinda had nightmares because of yesterday," Yang shrugged in response.
"Ah well nightmares come and go like the winds." Gerdur said as she walked to the table and set the bundle down. "Hope I got the right size for you Yang. I would have asked you to come with me but you were asleep and I didn't want to wake you."
Yang unravelled the bundle and to Ralof's word it was a full set of body armour. The blonde warrior looked back at the other woman and grinned. "Thanks Gerdur."
"I took your helmet and got it fixed while I purchased the armour." Gerdur stated. "So do you want to try it on now or wait for winter?"
Yang laughed "I will."
Gerdur turned to her brother with a look and gestured with her hand to turn around; Ralof rolled his eyes and turned without a word. Yang started to undress and slipped on the iron armour. The body armour was fitted with a leather vest lined with soft fur, probably fox fur and to Yang hardly weighed much. Then she strapped on thick woollen pants and slipped on her iron boots, and then she put on her iron gauntlets testing their fit by clenching and unclenching her hand. While everything fit snugly on her she walked around to see how the armour adjusted while she moved around. All in all the armour was perfect. Yang looked back at Ralof's sister with heartfelt gratitude.
"Thank you Gerdur, I mean it. I'll pay you back somehow."
"Actually Yang I need to ask a favour of you." Ralof's sister spoke softly.
"What do you need Gerdur?" Yang asked with a tilt of her head.
"I need you to talk to the Jarl of Whiterun and ask him to send some troops to Riverwood, our village is defenceless. Do that for me and the debt will be paid in full."
"Sure I can do that; I'll leave for Whiterun as soon as I trade in my war hammer today."
Gerdur nodded. "Well I have to be back at the mill, I'll see you again Yang."
With that the woman left as Yang waved goodbye. Ralof stood up from the table and turned to look at his friend. The blonde smirked as she saw Ralof's eyes widen so Yang wanted to try and embarrass him.
"Like what you see" Yang winked.
"I-I-I…uh….The armour looks good on you." Ralof stuttered with a blush probably not seeing such a good looking woman in a suit of armour before. "So…You're leaving Riverwood?"
"Seems like it…" she sighed. "But it's not going to be the last time we meet. I dunno, but I get the feeling I'm going to come pass Riverwood many times during my life, I just don't know when. I'll be sure to stop by and say hi."
Ralof smiled and walked up to Yang and held it out to Yang, "See you around then?"
Yang clasped his hand in a strong grip and shook it. "Most definitely."
With those last words Yang left the house with her new armour and war hammer and started to walk down to the trade store she walked past yesterday, the village isn't overly big so it was easy to navigate around. As soon as she neared the shop's door she could hear a few raised voices, curious she opened the door and walked inside. A man behind the counter who she assumed to be Lucan Valerius was argueing with a woman slightly younger than him. Yang caught a few words of the conversation. A Golden Claw, thieves and something about a ruin… Deciding that it wasn't her business she cleared her throat to make herself known, the duo stopped argueing and looked at the blonde warrior. The woman grumbled something and went upstairs, while Lucan smiled.
"Welcome friend, I apologise for my sister Carmilla she was rather attached to a family heirloom that was stolen from our shop. But that's not your problem, so what can I do you for?"
Unhooking the war hammer from her back Yang walked up and placed it on the counter. "Can I trade this war hammer for a two handed Iron Sword?"
Lucan looked the weapon over then lifted it and weighed it in his hands. He puts it back down and placed a hand on his chin in contemplation, his brows furrowed a little. Lucan looked at Yang and smiled a little.
"It's a little bit chipped but let me see if I can find a two hand sword out the back" He walked into a small room behind the counter and muttered a few things to himself. Yang on the other hand just whistled and looked around the store. There were a few odd bits and ends, weapons lined the walls and potions lined shelves of what was actually meant to be a place for books. Lucan came back with a two handed iron sword and put it on the counter next to the war hammer for Yang to inspect, which she did. The hilt, grip and pommel seemed fine perhaps just a little bit worn. The blade however was dull, hardly a sharp edge at all, Yang picked it up with both her hands to test the weight, it was lighter than her old steel two handed sword but it would have to do.
"If I toss in five gold, along with the war hammer do you think you could find a sharper one?" Yang asked.
"Sorry that's the only two handed sword we got. But I am sure Alvor the blacksmith across from here would sharpen the blade for you" Lucan shrugged.
"Ok I'll trade you." Yang said as she strapped the sword to her back. "Here's two gold as well, just for your friendly service."
"Oh thank you may the divines always bless you" Lucan thanked Yang as she walked out of the store.
Yang went over to the blacksmith across the street who was working the bellows of his forge next to him a little girl watched with excited eyes. Climbing the small set of steps Yang paused and knocked on the wooden beam to get the man's attention. He turned around to see who it was when he saw the blonde he grinned.
"Ah so you're the traveller I heard so much about. Gerdur told me about a blonde beauty staying in town." Alvor's voice was gruff but warm.
"Papa are you flirting with her, you know mama doesn't like it when you do that." The little girl spoke up.
"I-I wasn't flirting with her dear, just complimenting her." Alvor chuckled nervously as he looked at his daughter, he turned back to Yang. "So what can I do you for?"
"Can I get this sharpened?" Yang asked as she unhooked the two handed sword, showing the blacksmith. Alvor went over to Yang who handed him the sword.
"Hmm, I could sharpen it for ten gold," the blacksmith said as he held the blade horizontally and looked down the edge of the metal, after inspecting the blade he put it on his work bench. "This thing is as dull as a club, won't do you much good except beating the shit out of your enemies until they pass out. But ten gold and I'll make this blade so sharp it would cut just by looking at it."
"Alright ten gold." Yang grabbed one of the little pouches, luckily she counted all the gold she found last night and handed ten gold coins to Alvor.
"I'll have your sword sharpened right away." The man smiled at Yang and went to work. The blonde warrior decided to just sit on the stairs and wait for the blacksmith to finish her blade. She started to whistle a song she often listened to at the tavern she stayed at in the Imperial City. Yang never bothered to buy a house with her well earned winnings mainly for the fact that she didn't consider settling down and past her relationships were only one-night stands, so she stayed at the tavern. The blonde continued to whistle until she saw the little girl sit next to her and stopped.
"What song were you whistling?" the girl asked as she looked at Yang with intrigue.
"A song that was sung by an Argonian bard at the tavern I once lived in Cyrodiil, forgot what it was called." Yang shrugged looking back at the child. "What's you name little one?"
"My name is Dorthe, I'm learning to become a smith like papa." Dorthe smiled.
"Smithing is a fine craft, but a lot of patience and hard work." Yang grinned back. "I saw the dragon armour that was made for the hero of Kvatch once."
"Oh wow really? Was it made from real dragon scales?" Dorthe's inquired curiously.
Yang went into detail about the armour that was made for the person who helped the last of the Septim line to defeat Mehrunes Dagon during the oblivion crisis. She told Dorthe what she knew of the armour like how strong it was and what was needed to make the set. The smith's daughter listened intently to Yang and what she told; she asked many more questions about the Imperial City and asked what it was like after the Great War. Yang answered each question with a smile.
"Oh and there was this one time I saw one of the knight's of the nine-"
"Alright miss I sharpened your sword," Alvor interrupted the girl's conversation. Yang stood up and stretched as the blacksmith handed the sword to the warrior. Yang flicked her thumb on the edge as she felt a slight sting on her thumb as a small droplet of blood began to form. With a grin the blonde woman thanked Alvor for his service and said goodbye to Dorthe. Hooking the blade onto her back the blonde left the black smith and followed the path. Passing the inn Yang saw Ralof in normal clothes.
"Hey Ralof" the blonde called to the man. The said man turned and smiled.
"Ah Yang back in Riverwood so soon?" He leaned against a post and folded his arms with a smirk on his face.
"Ha. Ha. Very funny. Just wanted to give Gerdur some coin before leaving could you give it to her?" Yang tossed her only pouch to him, which he caught with one hand.
"You sure you wont be needing this?" He asked, to which Yang just waved him off.
"Nah if I need gold I'll find away to get some, say thanks to Gerdur for me and I'll see you later."
With that Yang continued on her way and over the bridge, leaving the village behind. She stood in front of a wooden sign with arrows pointing in various directions; she looked at the one that said Whiterun. Taking a deep breath she continued to follow the path that would lead to the city. As to what adventures would lay ahead Yang could only begin to guess.
Author's Note:
Yo xXIyra16Xx here.
Gee been a while for this fic to get updated huh? Ah well you know you need motivation to get things done right? Of course you do hahaha.
Anyway I'll be getting back to Operation Family Bonds soon. So don't fret im not giving up on it. Also would like to say Thank you to all those who reviewed:
The Gold Dragon and the Black Tiger, which is probably my best work despite how short the chapters may again the next story to be updated is a mystery, have a good one guys.
This is xXIyra16Xx signing out.